Meanwhile.
About a thousand miles away from the site of the energy explosion, Ye Qingxuan was scanning his surroundings with cautious vigilance.
The Divine Ability seed of Minor Deception worked continuously, firmly masking his aura.
Only after several immense auras had swept past high above did Ye Qingxuan finally let out a breath of relief—and then cursed under his breath:
“Just a Nascent Soul realm Cyan Demon, and it’s already that damn cunning? What a pain in the ass to kill. I don’t even know if it finally croaked or not.”
“But man—that was thrilling, I’ll give it that. Hahaha!”
By the end of his grumbling, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
In all his years of cultivation, this was the first time Ye Qingxuan had taken such a risk, plunging deep into a dangerous territory like the Demon Domain.
It was worlds apart from the quiet, routine life his main body usually led.
That cultivated composure and tranquil mindset he’d honed over the years—gone, in that moment.
But Ye Qingxuan didn’t really mind, nor did he try to suppress himself.
He had condensed this clone precisely to experience different ways of living—to temper his heart through the trials of the mortal world.
If his clone ended up behaving exactly like his main body, stuck in the same old patterns, that would actually be a step backward.
As long as he could remain in control of his own state of mind—able to shift it at will—then the different experiences, behaviors, and attitudes his various clones displayed didn’t matter.
Their experiences wouldn’t disturb his main body’s mental state; instead, they would enrich his life, allowing him to experience diverse existences and perfect himself.
As long as Ye Qingxuan could hold onto that one crucial thread—the ability to control and transform his own mindset at any moment—that was enough.
This brief clash with the Nascent Soul Cyan Demon also made Ye Qingxuan acutely aware of a limitation of his Nuclear Explosion Pills.
Although he could guide their trajectory with his spiritual sense, his spiritual perception was simply too slow when pitted against high-level cultivators.
At the end of the day, these tools were still wielded by the cultivator themselves. If your strength fell short, if your spiritual sense was weaker, if your reaction time lagged behind—
Then tricks like Nuclear Explosion Pills were very difficult to use effectively against high-level foes.
Especially when the enemy was prepared—it was almost impossible to catch them off guard with such external aids.
If the opponent remained alert, was stronger in cultivation, had sharper spiritual senses, and reacted faster—how could you possibly harm them with a pill?
So the idea of a low-level cultivator relying solely on explosive external tools to slaughter enemies far above their own realm was practically a fantasy.
Unless, of course, you paired it with a suppression-type talisman to immobilize the target—then you’d have a shot.
At that thought, Ye Qingxuan’s eyes narrowed subconsciously.
Talismans above the fifth grade came with their own inherent suppression effects, so that wasn’t an issue.
But fifth-grade and below talismans—constrained by the refiners’ cultivation levels and material quality—generally didn’t possess suppression effects on offensive talismans.
However, among fifth-grade talismans, there was a dedicated auxiliary type—the Sealing Suppression Talisman—that did have that effect.
If he combined a fifth-grade Nuclear Explosion Pill with a Sealing Suppression Talisman… could it work…?
But then he shook his head, dismissing the thought.
A fifth-grade Sealing Suppression Talisman, while capable of suppression, would have very limited effect on a Nascent Soul realm Cyan Demon of the same grade.
In fact, all talismans posed a fairly limited threat to cultivators of the same rank.
If talismans alone could let you ignore someone’s years of hard cultivation and just obliterate them, their prices would skyrocket.
The real targets for talismans were cultivators one level lower.
For example, a fifth-grade talisman was most effective against a Golden Core realm cultivator.
Even talismans take a moment to activate and draw upon the surrounding energy—though that moment is but an instant, or even less. But if you can’t restrain your opponent’s movements, a same-rank talisman is easily dodged.
Plus, for low-level cultivators activating high-level talismans, the spiritual energy burden is no small matter.
That’s why most cultivators stock talismans of their own grade for combat support—or at most, one grade higher.
No one relies on talismans as their primary means of fighting. At best, they serve as backup or deterrence.
What a cultivator truly depends on is their own hard-earned cultivation. External aids will always be mere side paths.
This was also why Ye Qingxuan hadn’t delved too deeply into the Nuclear Explosion Pill series.
Thinking back to the earlier fight, he sighed with slight regret:
“If only I’d known—I should’ve given this clone a few sixth-grade talismans too.”
All the sixth-grade talismans he’d previously purchased had gone to the external incarnation currently heading toward the Eastern Extremity Domain.
If he’d had just one sixth-grade talisman—with its innate suppression effect—paired with a fifth-grade Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pill…
Ye Qingxuan was confident he could have completely obliterated that Nascent Soul Cyan Demon in their earlier clash.
Even if using a sixth-grade talisman three whole ranks above him would have drained his clone’s spiritual energy completely, leaving him exhausted—
But if he’d killed that Nascent Soul Cyan Demon and obtained its corpse and cultivation origin, bringing them back to the Qingxuan Cave Heaven Paradise, the rewards would have been immense.
A Nascent Soul realm Cyan Demon—whether used as a sacrifice to boost his own cultivation or to empower the Qingxuan Cave Heaven Paradise—would have brought him considerable gains.
What a shame!
Ye Qingxuan shook his head with a look of regret, muttering indignantly:
“Next time I head back, I’m definitely loading this clone up with a few sixth-grade talismans, no matter what.”
As for the Nuclear Explosion Pills, he felt that in a world like the Demon Domain, the Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pill produced far better results than the regular version, which only carried destructive energy.
But that raised a question—why hadn’t he heard of the Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pill’s special effect in the Demon Domain spreading around the Earth Profound Realm?
If its effectiveness had become widely known, then as the main supplier of those pills, his Tianfu Shop should have received relevant feedback.
And if the pill’s performance in the Demon Domain were publicized back in the Earth Profound Realm, with the backing of the Xuantian Sect behind him, he might even have the chance to strike it rich once more.
With the Xuantian Sect watching his back, he wasn’t afraid of not getting his share. Even if he had to give up the lion’s share to the sect, so be it.
Ye Qingxuan was quite open-minded about this. He’d already enjoyed plenty of benefits from being under the Xuantian Sect’s wing—more than most people could dream of.
So he wasn’t greedy. As long as the Xuantian Sect gave him a slice of the pie, he’d be content.
The real question was—why hadn’t the effect of the Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pill in the Demon Domain been spread?
One pill could cleanse far more than hundreds of low-grade Spirit-Cleansing Trees combined.
Actually, it wasn’t that strange.
The Nuclear Explosion Pill series currently sold at Ye Qingxuan’s Tianfu Shop was only at the third-grade level.
Plus, the Spirit-Cleansing version hadn’t yet spread across the entire Earth Profound Realm. Only some low-level disciples of the Xuantian Sect and cultivators near Xingzhou knew about it.
Most buyers were merely Golden Core cultivators—or even below.
These people, who didn’t even have Nascent Soul cultivation, would rarely be reckless enough to venture into the Demon Domain or the nine fallen minor worlds for training.
At most, they’d explore other minor worlds that hadn’t fallen—so naturally, they’d have no clue about the pill’s effects in the Demon Domain.
Earlier, on the extraterritorial battlefield, the Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pill had shown decent results.
But while the conditions there were harsh, the main threat came from demonic creatures born in that environment.
The demonic energy there was heavily diluted by the Earth Profound Realm’s primal suppression, making it far thinner than in the current Demon Domain—so most cultivators overlooked the pill’s environmental cleansing properties.
The cultivators who’d used the pill on the extraterritorial battlefield were too low in cultivation to have visited the Demon Domain.
And those who had visited the Demon Domain had never used the pill.
Thus, the exceptional effect of the Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pill in purging demonic energy had never been publicized.
Even among the higher-ups of the Xuantian Sect, though some knew of the Nuclear Explosion Pill’s existence, it was ultimately just a low-grade product. Their attention was limited, and they hadn’t looked deeply into the series.
That’s why, to this day, this was the first time the Nuclear Explosion Pill had ever been used within the Demon Domain—and by none other than the pill’s own creator.
Rubbing his chin, Ye Qingxuan mused:
“Could it be… this time, I’ll have to do the advertising myself?”
